Year 5 and 6 boys from Knox Prep were recently treated to a very special visit by Antarctic adventurers and former Knox students James Castrission and Justin Jones – better known as Cas and Jonesy.

The adventurers, made history earlier this year after completing the longest unsupported polar expedition of all time, a 2,275km, 89 day ski journey over the Antarctic Plateau.

“Cas and Jonesy visited Knox as part of our unit of study on Antarctica,” said Year 6 Team Leader Joanne Hitchens. “The pair spent about an hour enthralling the boys by describing the planning, physical and mental fitness and resilience they needed to tackle the expedition.”

“The boys absolutely loved seeing photographs from the expedition and hearing real stories from modern day adventurers,” said Hitchens.

As part of a research project, the Year 6 boys were set the task of devising a new adventure for Cas and Jonesy. Two groups of boys presented their proposals to the pair – adventures to the Congo and Arabian Desert.

Cas and Jonesy have been mates since they attended Knox. They graduated in 2000 and have completed a string of expeditions since including a world-first unsupported kayak trip from Australia to New Zealand (3,318km over 62 days) in 2007-08.